The Mission of the Scholarship Program

The Bill McKenna Scholarship Fund encourages young people to participate in St. Louis hockey as ice hockey officials. Through these efforts, the area hockey community will benefit from qualified referees to officiate the increasing number of youth hockey games.

About Bill and The Scholarship Fund

A founding member of the Kirkwood Youth

Hockey Association in 1968, Bill McKenna was

active within the many facets of St. Louis hockey

until his death in 1997.

Bill had the right attitude about youth sports.

His optimism and sportsmanship were as much

evident in his enjoyment of the game as in the

positive mark he made upon St. Louis hockey.

As a veteran referee, Bill didn't just enforce the

rules, he also encouraged the integrity of the

game. Most of all, he took the welfare of his

players to heart: truly the “Referee of Referees”!

Over the years, the Missouri Ice Hockey Officials

Association (MIHOA) has been a principal donor

to The Bill McKenna Scholarship Fund. Through

continuing fund raising efforts and contributions

from individuals and organizations such as the St. Louis Blues Fourteen Fund, Bill's contribution to St. Louis hockey – both on- and off-ice – is honored through the academic assistance his fund offers to St. Louis area students.